Wind operated sign



Feb. 6, 1934. LOEWENSTE|N 1,945,649

WIND OPERATED 5 IGN Filed April 4, 1.933

swam two Shown/1 Patented Feb. 6 1934 UNITED STATES PATENT- ()FFICEY 1,945,649 WIND OPERATED srclv Lawrence Loewenstein, Columbus, Ohio Application April 4, 1933. Serial No. 664,376 7 Claims. (Cl. 40-138) This invention relates to signstructures and is more particularly directed to the wind operated kind positioned along highways, on top I of buildings and other places of display.

An object of the invention is to provide a sign of this type with characters on its advertising surface or surfaces which are movable relative to the sign and operated thereby for attracting attention to the advertising material carried by the sign.

Another object of the invention resides in the provision of a sign of this kind wherein the operating connection, between the movable characters of the sign, the pivoted sign panels and their support, is such as to effect considerable movement on the part of the advertising characters with a negligible or hardly perceptible movement of the sign panel or panels.

A still further object is to provide a sign of simple construction, involving onlya few parts which should, due to their simplicity, require little or no attention for their operation.

For a further understanding of the invention,

reference is to be had to the following description, taken in connection with the accompanying drawing, wherein:

Fig. 1 is a perspective view of the sign comprising the present invention;

Fig. 2 is a fragmentary vertical longitudinal,

sectional view taken through the sign;

Fig. 3 is a vertical transverse sectional view taken on the line 3-3 of Fig. 2;

Fig. 4 is a horizontal sectional view taken on the line 44 of Fig. 2.

Referring more particularly to the drawing, the numeral 1 designates the sign in its entirety which in the present instance has been illustrated in the form of a bill board of the type commonly found along highways and other places of prominent display. The sign selected for illustration comprises a pair of panel members 2 and 3 although it will be understood that only one of the panels need to be used as for an example,

when the sign is positioned parallel with a roadway or when only one side of the sign is displayed to persons passing the same. The panel members 2 and 3 which may be formed of metal, are joined at their upper edges to a longitudinally extending bar 4 by means of bolts or other fastening devices 5, passing through the bar and the panel members to hold the same in rigid relationship with one another. Braces or rods 6 may also be employed to hold the panels in spaced rigid order with respect to each other and to strengthen the sign generally throughout.

The sign which may be of any suitable size has its upper end pivoted as at 7 to the upper end of a pair of supporting standards 8, rigidly anchored to the. ground or other supporting surface so that the sign is free to swing between the stand-. ards as by the action of wind pressure. This swinging movement of the sign may attract some attention thereto, however, in order to make the sign more noticeable to observers, the same is provided with movable letters or characters 9 indicating. advertising or other information. The characters 9 are attached in any suitable manner to the outer ends of shaft extensions 10 forming part of crank arms 11, positioned between the panel members and journaled for rotary movement Within bearings 12 carried by the inner surfaces of the panels. Joining the crankv armsfor the simultaneous movement of the letters or characters carried thereby is a connecting rod or bar 13 which has one of its ends pivotally secured to a link connection 14 which in turn is pivoted to the longer arm 15 of a bell crank. 16, mounted for rocking movement with a shaft 17 journaled for rotation within bearing sleeves 18 carried by the panel members 2 and 3. The shorter arm 19 or" the bell crank haspivotally con-, nected thereto one end of a vertically arranged link 20 which has its other end joined for, pivotal movement to a bracket 21 carried by one of the standards 8. The arrangement of the link members, the bell crank and the connecting rod is such as to hold the crank arms and the characters attached thereto substantially vertical, when the sign structure is in its normal balanced or stationary position. 9

From the, mechanism described, it will be seen that as the wind swings the sign structure back and forth, from its pivotal mounting at the upper end thereof, a pulling action is created upon the link member 20 which, due to being connect- 5 ed at one end to the stationary bracket 21 and its other end to the bell crank 16 will cause the latter to rock on its mounting and also effect the simultaneous movement of the crank arms 11 with the attached character thereto. As the sign panels are swung on an are drawn from their pivot connection 7 and the link 20 rocked on an are opposite thereto, from its connection with the bracket 21, considerable movement is imparted to the bell crank and its associated mechanism upon a slight movement of the sign. The fact that the link 20 is arranged in vertical alignment with the bell crank when the sign is in its normal stationary position, the link will eifect equal rocking movement of the characters or letters 9 in either direction when the sign is swung from one side to the other. This rocking movement of the characters relative to the side surfaces of the panels tends to attract the attention of observers to the advertising material of the sign and that represented by the characters thereof.

The characters of the sign may, if desired, be arranged in pluralities or rows with the crank arm connections thereof alternately secured tothe end standards or supports, causing the characters to rock or move in opposite directions, thereby tending to further attract attention to the sign for the purpose of emphasizing the subject mat;- ter thereof. The characters could also be so mounted on the ends of the crank arm Shafts that they would have the appearance of moving up and down or in other directions over the sign board or panels during the movement of the sign.

From the foregoing, it will be seen that a sign structure has been provided wherein the sideward swinging movement thereof, caused by the action of wind pressure, will effect the rocking movement of sign characters carried thereby which, due to their movement, will attract attention thereto so that the subject matter thereof will be impressed upon observers of the sign.

, The sign when formed of a pair of spaced panel members houses the character moving mechanism therebetween which will thus be hidden from exterior view and protected from the elements. It will be obvious that when only a sin- ,gle signpanel is used, the mechanism could be covered by a housing and both sides of the panel used for advertising, if desired. The sign has the advantage of being extremely simple in construction, comprising only a few parts which after once being assembled into a sign structure, should require no further attention and therefore last indefinitely with little or no cost for up-keep.

Although I have shown and described a particular mechanism for effecting the movement ofthe sign characters, it will be understood, never- "theless, that other mechanisms may be used to accomplish this movement and I therefore do not desire to limit myself thereto as the details thereof may be subject to various modifications.

What is claimed is:

1. An advertising sign comprising a panel memberpivoted at its upper end to spaced supports for free swinging movement due to wind pressure, sign characters mounted on a face of said-panel, and means connecting said characters and at least one of said supports and functioning to move said characters when said panel is swung by the wind.

2. A movable advertising sign comprising an advertising panel pivoted at its upper end to a suitable support for free swinging movement caused by wind pressure, sign characters carried by said panel, means for movably mounting said characters to rock relative to said panel, and means connecting said characters and said support and functioning to effect the movement of said characters; when said panel member is swung by the wind. 86

3. A movable advertising sign comprising a panel member suspended for free swinging movement on a suitable support, sign characters carried by said panel and mounted for rocking movement thereon, and means located to the rear 90 of said panel member and connecting the support and the characters for effecting the rocking movement of the latter when said panel member is swung by the action of wind pressure.

4. An advertising sign comprising a pair of spaced panel members united and pivoted at their upper ends to a suitable support for free swinging movement relative thereto, sign characters carried by said panel members and located to the front of said panels, means for movably mounting said characters in connection with said panels, and means arranged between said panel, members and connected to said support and characters and functioning to move the latter relative to the panels when said panelsv are swung as by the action of the wind.

5. An advertising sign comprising a pair of spaced panel members united for movement with one another and pivoted for free swinging movement to a-suitable support, characters. carried by said panel members and mounted for movement relative thereto, and a connection arranged to effect the movement of said characters when the sign is swung from its pivotal mounting by the action of wind pressure.

6. An advertising sign comprising a panel member pivoted at its upper end for free swing ing movement to a suitable support, sign characters mounted on a face of said panel, and means connecting said characters andarranged to effect 12,0 the movement thereof when said panel member is swung from said support.

'7. An advertising sign comprising a. panel member pivoted for free swinging movement to a suitable support, sign characters carried by 125. said panel member and mounted for rocking movement in a direction at right angles to the direction of movement of said panel member, and a mechanism provided in connection with said characters for effecting the movement there- 13,0 of when said panel is swung from said support.

' LAWRENCE LOEWENSTEIN. 

